Get Engagement

Get Engagement

How do you win in the current mortgage market? You have to get your client and prospects engaged. How do you do that? Good content is one way.

In the article “These Master Copywriters Share How to Go From Being a Good Copywriter to a Great Consultant” written by Margo Aaron, she shares some tips. She first reports that The Copywriter Club is resurrecting the lost art of engagement by cultivating community online and off. Here’s how they’re doing it:

Recently, Kira Hug and Rob Marsh have managed to do the impossible. They resurrected the lost art of engaged Facebook groups, launched a successful podcast, and cultivated a community of over seven thousand copywriters launching and growing businesses.

The Copywriter Club, or TCC as they’re known by insiders, has quickly grown into one of the most engaged communities of direct response copywriters on the Internet.

Recently, 75 of them gathered in a small room at Hotel 50 Bowery in Chinatown where they kicked off the first annual TCC IRL Event. The who’s-who of the copy world showed up to support the event, share copy secrets, and swap war stories on how to create copywriting success.

Against their better judgment, Kira and Rob let some take a peek behind the curtain at what they created and share what was learned with you fine folks. Here’s what you missed at the TCC event in Manhattan.

For decades, copywriters have claimed you can find success by being the “hired gun” that jumps from client to client, beats the control, and collects royalties from her chateau in France. Turns out, that model doesn’t work anymore.

Speakers joked that a control barely lasts 14 minutes nowadays, where it used to last months. Today, it’s about being the entrepreneur, advisor, and expert inside of a client’s business, as much as it is about copy that converts.

Brian Kurtz, a “titan” of direct response, drove that point home when he reminded the crowd of the 40/40/20 rule. Forty percent of your success comes from your list, 40% comes from your offer, and 20% comes from your copy. Which is a particularly bold rule to underscore at a copy event.

“Go to a list of people who REALLY want your offer with [expletive] copy and I bet you make a sale.” Mmmmhmm. The man knows a thing or two about sales.

There were also honest conversations about whether JV partnerships are worth it, when to raise your rates, why “not segmenting” is the biggest mistake you can make, what to do about lapsed list engagement, and lots of other nerdy fun DR copy things. Like these:

>>Copyhackers founder Joanna Wiebe reminded the crowd that “our job is to make them decide” after hitting us with the sobering statistic that 60% of sales are lost to apathy and indecision.

>>Talking Shrimp founder, Laura Belgray, warned attendees of the dangers of being the “drunk uncle” – the guy who shows up out-of-the-blue and asks for money.

>>Copy and content maven Hillary Weiss taught attendees why personal branding actually matters and has palpable business consequences. “Your business is what you do. Your branding is how you differentiate yourself from everyone else.”

>>Abbey Woodcock, copy and conversion whisperer proved that nailing a client’s “voice” is not a unicorn quality like I’ve always thought. Apparently, anyone can do it (and she showed attendees how).

>>Copy juggernaut Parris Lampropoulos took attendees back to the basics when he explained, “practice makes permanent, not perfect.” And advocated for a community or mentors who could provide feedback, course correction, and critiquing (the good kind. Not the fluffy kind).

While the content was solid, the best part of the conference was what happened between and after the presentations: The community.

The event brought together an incredible blend of beginners and masters bonded by their mutual affection for this obscure industry they’ve all arrived at by accident. The connections made and opportunities created at this event mirrored what Kira and Rob have successfully created online (only, it was IRL).

They curated dinners, encouraged joint lunches, and facilitated introductions that will no doubt launch careers, expand businesses, and foster a community of quality direct response copywriters for decades to come.

So, what’s the takeaway for the mortgage industry? You have to network in a meaningful way online and offline. Our industry loves LinkedIn. In fact, it’s where most Fortune 500 decision-makers and executives like to spend their spare time. The best part?

More often than not, they’re actually scrolling through actively looking for valuable content to read. There isn’t the same barrier you need to break down like on other social platforms like Facebook. They’re not there to find Buzzfeed quizzes, wedding photos, or memes. They’re looking for content that can change the way they do business, which is most definitely music to the ears of a B2B marketer.

According to Business Insider Intelligence, TechCrunch and Fortune, LinkedIn has officially crossed the half-billion user mark back in 2017. Since they were founded in 2002, they’ve continued to grow their user base year after year.

LinkedIn’s monthly active user based reached 260 million back in March 2017. That’s almost 2.5x the 106 million monthly active users last reported in 2016. This number comes from research conducted by web usage company Apptopia and has not been confirmed by LinkedIn.

Of those using the platform monthly, up to 40% are accessing it on a daily basis. If that is the case, that’s over 100 million professionals you could be targeting every single day. To make that even more excited, LinkedIn users typically use the platform to find relevant content, meaning they’ll be much more willing to check out what you’re sharing.

From a B2B perspective, the decision-makers you’re trying to reach are using LinkedIn. If you double down on your LinkedIn efforts, you’ll be able to target the right people in the place they like to spend their scrolling time.

Also, Mobile is booming and LinkedIn’s mobile user numbers reflect that. Their mobile user count is climbing every month, which only makes it easier to reach the people you’re trying to reach. Mobile makes it easier for a user to just open the app and scroll through, giving you more opportunities to reach them.

The big takeaway is that mortgage companies should utilize the services of experts to help them better engage clients and prospects, which for our industry in particular, should include a solid LinkedIn strategy.

Michael
mhammond@nexleveladvisors.com